My Fat Chart
Jan/1022
On Twitter today I released my Fat Chart.
Yesterday I saw a picture of myself that made me realize that the last 12 or so months I’ve let myself go a little. By no means am I morbidly overweight – but I’ve certainly not been exercising as much as I should and have let my diet slip. My ‘gut’ is the area that is suffering. Shirts don’t quite fit, I get puffed out on a flight or two of stairs and I’m finding it harder to keep up with my boys.
I could let things get a lot worse than they are – but after sharing about the photo on Twitter yesterday and saying that I’m going to do something about it – I decided that I’ve probably got more of a chance if I put it out there for a little extra public accountability.
Putting my fat chart out onto Twitter earlier today got a lot of reaction – some thought it a good idea, others wondered why I needed to do it and thought I didn’t have a problem, others started making suggestions about how to adapt my diet and what kind of exercise to do.
All the feedback is great – thanks!
By no means am I an exercise or diet expert. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes. I’m also sure I’ll have days where I don’t really want to share what I ate or did (or didn’t do) – but hopefully the act of putting it out there will inspire me a little more. I figure if the public accountability helps me get 10% fitter or take a little extra weight off then it’s probably worth doing.
A few questions I’ve been asked numerous times already:
- What’s My Goal Weight? – I don’t really have one. I’d like to shed at least 6-7 kg but from previous experience I tend to not lose a lot but find that I ‘redistribute it’. Last time I worked on this a couple of years ago I didn’t lose a kg but my belly lost 2-3 cm! Perhaps I should add a belly measurement.
- Other Goals? – for me it’s more about fitness and health than weight loss. I want to not be puffed when I climb stairs, I want to be able to chase my kids around the yard until THEY get tired, I want to have a healthy body so I can grow old and watch my kids grow up.
- How Tall Am I? – just under 180cm.
- What Kind of Exercise Am I Going to Do? – I’m going to keep it pretty simple. It’s summer here in Australia so I’m going to try to get out as much as possible. Walking, riding (I’m going to get a bike) and using my kids new Trampoline are all starting points. I might even restart my pushups, squats and sit ups little routine that I used to do while looking after my kids were in the bath each night.
- Can Others Join Me? – surprisingly I had 4-5 others tweet back when I shared the link to my chart asking if they could join me in my ‘challenge’. I’m not sure this really is a ‘challenge’ as such – but I’m open to it being a group thing. If you want to start your own fat chart – just open a Google Docs document, set up a chart in the way that you like – publish it as a webpage – and share a link in comments below and anywhere else you want a little accountability. I can’t guarantee to be a lot of support on it – but just knowing others are doing a similar thing is sure encouraging.
Thanks all for your feedback, support, encouragement etc.
